Valve



2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

gem/to@ Dec. 19, 1922.

H. B. REDDING.

VALVE.

FILED JAN. 16| 1920.

HUIWB Re ddhj @vi/maso Patented Dec. '19, 1922..

STATES 1,438,967 PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY REDDING, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, yIBY- DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGN MENTS, OF TWO-THIRDS TO I. S. FINK, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, AND ONE-THIRD TO THE REDDING VALVE COMPANY, OIF COLUMBUS, OHIO, A CORPORATION 0F DELA- WARE.

VALVE.

Application med January 16, 1920. Serial No. 351,808.

State of Ohio, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valves, of which the following s a specification.

This invention relates generally to valves, and has particular reference to the valve body or liuid controlling closure thereof, the general. object of the invention being to provide a valve in which is mounted a sliding closure of novel construction and of such form as to positively effect fthe closing of the fluid Vconduit of the valve when said closure occupies a lowered position. y

Another object of the invention resides in a valve body or closure which consists in the provision of a retaining cage in which are slidably mounted valve closing side mem bers, the latter having oppositely situated reversely inclined plane faces, to produce opposed wedges between said members which are adapted to be positioned within stem, and in the provision .of a projection' upon the other of said wedges, said projection serving when engaged with a fixed portion of a valve casing to arrest movement on the part of the closure and, in'conju'nction with said stem, to force said wedges inwardly of said tapering sockets, in order that said wedges may act upon the inclined faces of said side members so as to forcibly spread the latter into fluid sealing engagement with a plurality .of valve seats.

A further object of the invention resides in mounting anti-friction devices between said wedges and the inclined faces of said side members, in order that there will be an absence of undue friction between parts and to prevent excessive wear.v I

Other objects of theinx'fention reside in the provisionof a valve which is of very economical construction, fully capable vof withstanding high 'internal pressures and vari-ous thermal conditions, and one which will be convenient in which to make repairs, positive in action and easy to properly actuate.

.For a further understanding of the invent'lon, reference is to be had to the following description, and to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section taken through the valve comprising. the present invention, and showing the closure body in its lowered or conduit sealing position.

Figure'2 is a similar view disclosing the closure in its elevated or inactive position.

Figure 3 is a detailed sectional view taken along the plane disclosed by the line 3`3 of Figure 1, the stem and wedges being shown in elevation.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view .taken along k'the line 4 4 of Figure 1'.

Figure 5 is a detailed perspective View of the retaining cage.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of one-of the side members o f the yclosure body.-

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional through said side member.

Figure 8 is a detailed perspective view of the, lower wedge employed in the closure, an f Figure 9 is a similar view of the upper stem carried wedge. v

view

Referring more particularly to the details I of the invention, use is made of a valve l, In lts preferred form this valve consists of a' lower casing 2in which is formed a closure' chamber 3 and an intersecting iuid conduit 4.; The exact formation of the casing 2 does not in itself form a part of the present invention, but is the subiect matter of my Patent Number 1,370,224, issued March 1,

1921, and 1,370,225, issued March 1, 1921.

The outer ends of the conduit 4 may be provided with fixed rings 5, by means of which communicating pipes, not shown, may be connected with the valve. Slidably mounted within the chamber 3 is a closure or valve body 6, which is adapted to be moved into and out of registration with the' conduit 4 for the purpose of overning the flow off fluid therethrough. s shown in Figure 2, when the closure is elevated the conduit will be left open to vpermit of the unrestricted passage, of iuld therethrough, and, conversely, when the closure is lowered to assume the position shown in Figure 1, said conduit willl be effectively obthe valve correspondingly prevented. rlhe chamber 3 is of such proportions as -to receive the closure when the latter is in its elevated or inactive position, so that the closing of the conduit 4 may be regulated by the slidable operation of the valve body 6.

To raise and lower the closure, use is made of a vertically extending threaded stem 7 which has its lower end secured to the clo- Sure and its upper threaded end provided with an engaging hand wheel 8, whereby upon the rotation of the latter said stem and the closure body may 'be raised or lowered. The upper portion of the casing 2 terminates in an out-turned flange 9, upon which is positioned the base plate 10 of the valvel superstructure. This plate may be'bolted orfotherwise secured as at 11 to the flange 9 for the purpose of providinga substantial base for the stem supporting structure. The base plate 10 is further provided with a central opening through which the stem 7 slidably projects, and this opening is suitably packed by means ofl a stuffing box construction 12, which operates to prevent the seepage of fluid throughthe opening in the base plate.

- If desired,'the stufling box may consist of member 18.

a cup 13, formed with the base plate 10 and adapted to contain a suitable packing material'14 which is so placed as to surround and engage with the stem 7. In the upper end of the cup-there is telescopically inserted a slidable member 15, the lower end of which being adapted to engage, with the material 14y for the purpose of crowding the latter into vfluid sealing engagement with the stem 7.

The adjustment o the member 15 is provided for by means of threaded boltsV 16 which rigidly arise from the plate 10. The

upper ends of these bolts are equipped with nuts 17, which may exercisesullcient force -upon the member 15 to force the latter into operative engagement with the material- 14.

To support the operating `wheel 8 and to protect the stem7', use is made .of a strut The construction of this member has beeny particularly set forth in my aforesaid patents, but for present purposes it may be said that the same comprises a pair of downwardly and outwardly converging legs 19, the lower ends of which being suitably connected in any rigid manner with the base plate 10. The upper portions of said legs terminate in a sleeve 20, inwhich is rotatably positioned the fixed hub 21 of the hand wheel. Thishu'b is provided with an annular groove for the reception of the sleeve 2,0, in order that the rotation of the wheel will not resultwinv its vertical change of position, or in other words to insure a' verticalmovement on the part of the stem 7 only.

Referring now to the more important part 'of the present invention, it will be observed that vthe lower end of the stem 7 is provided -25 upon which are positioned a retaining 'ring or cage structure 26. ln this instance the structure 26 is of annular formation, and

4is provided with upper and lower openings 27 and 28 respectively, the former being designed to receive the collar 24, while the latter is arranged to receive a depending stud or projection 29 formed upon a lower wedge element 30, the latter being situated in opposition to the-wedge element 23. It will thus be manifest that through the provision of the shoulders 25, the wedge element 23 or the stem 7 will serve to support the ring or cage structure 26 and the mechanism carried thereby. f

Slidably positioned for lateral movementl within the structure 26 is a pair of side or conduit closing members 31. In this instance these members have been exemplified as of disk shaped formation and, as vrshown lin Figures 6 and 7, the ysame are provided on oneside with recesses 32, the side walls 33 of which being formed to present reverselyinclined plane surfaces. When the members 31 are operatively situated, the recesses32 thereof will be arranged in opposition to each other'so as to provide substantially tapering sockets 34 between their side walls, and it is within these sockets that the upper and lower wedges are designed to be positioned. Annular wear rings 35 are provided upon the outer circumferential portions of the side members 31, and are adapted when the closure is lowered to be pressed into engagement wit-h valve seats35" removably positioned .in the inner ends of the conduit 4. These seats are provided withradial lugs 36 by means of which a suitable tool' may be connected with the seats for the purpose of removing the latter. Opposite sides of the chamber3 are provided'with. vertically extending guide ribs 37,V these ribs are arranged to be positioned between bifuractcd lugs 38 which project from the sides ofthe ring structure 26, said ribs and lugs serve to guide the cage structure in its operative movements. V Y.:

It will thus be manifest that when it is desired to close the valve, the hand wheel 8 will be operated so as to cause a lowering of the stem 7. This operation continues until the projection 29 cont-acts with the bottom of the chamber 3thus arresting movement on the part of theclosure or valve body so as to position the latter in registration with the conduits 4. Continued rotation on the l l i lign part of the hand wheel will then result in forcing the upper wedge 23 downwardly into its socket 34 with sufficient pressure to downward movement on the part' of the wedge 23 will result in upward movement of the lower wedge, which crowds into its socket 34 so as to expand the lower portions of the side members in unison with the `upper portions thereof. Thus, the side members may be operated upon so as to produce a firm circumferential seal around the full circumference of the valve seats. Upon the elevation of the closure structure, the upper wedge element will be partially withdrawn from its wedged engagement with the side members. This results in permitting said wedge members'to move inwardly so that they will not exercise undue friction on the valve seats during the initiation of upward movement of the closure. Since the pressure on the upperportionsof the members 31 has been removed, it follows that upon the raising of the valve body the lower wedge element will simply gravitate to its lowered position, thus allowing the members 31 to freely contract. If desired, I provide rollers or other similar anti-friction devices 39 between the wedge elements 23 and 30 and the inclined faces 33 of the side members 31. By the. presence of these antifriction elements, the operation of the wedges will be rendered more positive and effective, by reason of the fact that the pressures which said wedge elements will exercise will be directly imparted to the side members and will not be lost in undue friction. Also, the elements 39 permit of the convenient release of the wedge elements from expanding engagement withthe side members upon the upward movement of the stem.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be apparent that there is provided a Valve wherein a closure structure of novel and eflicient formation is to be found. This construction is designed to be an improvement upon the ordinary form of a wedge shaped valve, and to eliminate the tapering seats hitherto provided for such valves. By the provision of the opposed wedge elements a positive expansion of the side members 31 is to be had, and the pressures are so applied as to insure close engagement between the side members and the valve seats around the entire circular bearing portions of the side members. The pressures which the wedge elements may supply to the side members are very effective, so that a seepage of fluid though the closure structure is rendered substantially impossible. Byy use of the laterally expanding side members, tapering valve seats are dispensed with and likewise are the defects which are incidental to their use.

In a valve, a. casing including a longitudinally extending fluid conduit and an intersecting closure chamber, a slidable closure arranged for movement within said chamber to control fluid passage through said conduit, said closure comprising an actuating stem movable longitudinally of said chamber, a wedge element carried by the inner end of said stern, a circular cage member supported upon said wedge element, a second wedge element positioned in said cage and located in registration with but in opposed relationship to said first wedge element, a projection extending from said second wedge element and arranged to pass through an opening provided in said cage member, a pair of closure disks mounted 1n said cage'member and including reversely inclined surfaces arranged for cooperation with the similar surfaces of said wedge elements, whereby when said wedge elements are moved toward each other said disks will be forced apart into seating engagement with valve seats provided in conjunction with said conduit, iongitudinally extending stationar ribs carried by the walls of said closure c amber, and guide lugs projecting from said cage memberl and adapted for cooperation with said ribs.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HARRY B. REDDING. 

